ANSWERS: 12
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  • No. The expression is a metaphor for the sense of urgency that a woman might feel to accomplish certain life goals that have a biological time limit, such as having a child before the age-related risk factors increase or before menopause sets in.
  • The biological clock starts ticking at birth because that's when it gets wound up. It ticks toward wisdom for about 40 years then winds down for the next 40 or more. Of course women hear it - tick-tock tick-tock for a lifetime. Men have a biological clock too but the alarm sounds in a different way.
  • If anyone objects to the word 'horny' pls do not read this: Yes, I believe a woman can physically feel the ticking of the proverbial body clock. My theory is: Young women (start of menstration to mid-late 20's, the biological 'ideal' age for conception pregnancy and giving birth) are very horny (oh yes young boys are too of course but sometimes women's sexuality is denied) - MORE SO just before and during ovulation, whether they notice this rythmic trend themselves or not. When coming to the end of this most fertile time, just before the woman will start having more difficulty falling pregnant, have more miscarriages of pregnancies etc, in the late 20's, the body tends to 'pronk': A stage of say 2years where at ovulation a woman's body goes nuts and at each ovulation she is extremely exceptionally horny. This is the body trying desparately to get the woman to get pregnant. Oh yes, completely nonsensical non-scientific crap some people will say and how dare i use the word 'horny' and so often, this is a serious site....and there are many things in life which contribute to both the male and female sexualpsyche: but this has been an observed happenstance of many many woman i know and i really do think this 'pronking' period is a way we physically feel our biological clocks literally tick tick ticking and indeed, the alarm actually going off! [Pronking is the final GINORMOUS desperate leap a gazelle or similar animal makes after it has been pursued by an attacker just before it is caught].
  • Not only can we not physically hear or feel it, but in literal terms, we don't really have them. It was conceived as a metaphor for the sense of urgency that SOME women might feel on approaching menopause childless, or reaching their thirties unmarried (Which I think is actually something to be proud of, but maybe that's just me) and somewhere along the line seemed to gain widespread acceptance as a biological fact- perhaps shown by the naivity in the question- of course we can't feel it- because it doesn't literally exist. One might as well ask whether a surgeon could mend a broken heart or if bruises appear when you fall in love. The unquestioning acceptance that all "older" women have these always struck me as a form of veiled sexism which emerged shortly after women started to make their way into the full time jobs market: a woman must hurry and fulfill her destiny to be a childbearer before some ticking timebomb goes off inside of her and she dies alone and miserable. On the contrary many women go through life happily not having children and not wanting children, and those that do have the intellectual power to choose to utilise their ability to become mothers, they aren't compelled by biological impulse.
  • I'm 27. I feel the desire for a child almost as if it were physical pain, and it gets worse as time goes on. Thankfully I will be engaged pretty soon. I won't go so far as to call it "a ticking clock" but I think I understand when most women mean when that say it.
  • I surpose you can kinda for example when you start your menopause.
  • I think SOME women can sense something. For example, last fall i suddenly had this overwhelming urge to GET PREGNANT!!!! I have NEVER felt this before in my life. I am 25 going on 26 which is a "young age" for some people, but naturally your body becomes less fertile as you get older.. so, around now, of course your body is telling you "let's go". Whereas, I have a friend in her 40's who has stated that she has never felt that before. Everyone is different, and I think it also has to do with what you desire in your life.. some people WANT kids, and some people DON"T... everyone is different....
  • I think it has more to do with her age and when she believes the threshold of menopause will befall her.
  • God, I'm 29 and have no feeling or desire to have children and I know loads of women my age who are the same, so I guess that's it now then, lol! No, seriously though I think it probably does vary from woman to woman - everyone is different and wants different things in life. It obviously can and does get more difficult for a woman to conceive as she gets older but it isn't impossible for it to happen and there are a lot of more mature Mum's out there nowadays ;-) So to all the lovely girlies from their late 20's onwards, I wouldn't worry too much and just relax and chill out and go with how your body feels :-) Joanna. x
  • I believe that the person who posted the question had the same feeling some other more understanding reppliers have posted. This is not a sexist question, I feel the same way at times, and trust me, it has nothing to do with society's impositions, my family's (I grew up with a mother whose sole imposition on me was that I try to be happy and enjoy my life to the fullest, yes, I know how lucky I am), and I am not afraid of menopause (I am just 34). I have had this feeling of "really wanting to get pregnant" only twice: two years ago when I was in a serious relationship, and he suddenly "changed his mind" about wanting children, it devastated me, I was too far into the relationship and it took me six months and a deep depression to get out of it. Now I am starting a great relationship with someone who wants them, actually has them already but wants more, but the situation- I met him on the middle of his divorce- doesnt allow us to seriously think about it for at least two years. Everything in my head tells me it is okay, even my heart tells me what I want to do is wait and see this relationship grow and once we get to solid ground, then it will be a good time to start the "baby talk". As much as I want to be a mother, I want to at least give that kid the best possible environment to grow up in. And my bf has two small kids, too soon to meet them, but I am dying to meet them. it's not just my biological clock, it's my "I can't look at a kid in the street without smiling" syndrome. I have always been a kids' person. I have always known I have the "mommy" gene. I have always told myself that my biggest goal in life was to someday be "somebody's mommy", if nature doesnt help, adoption will do, I dont care about that. But these days I feel like an emotional time bomb about to explode, so I guess there is such a thing as your damned biological clock telling you "we WANT this", in spite of all the reasons why you cannot. And it does feel really sad. Even if your career, relationship, friendships and life in general are great, you cannot help it. It's the big pink elephant on the room. I guess I need therapy...
  • As someone whose "biological clock" has recently run out, I would say the sense of desperation we sometimes feel is related to a larger issue. If we have no offspring then who will be obliged to take care of us when we are old? Relationships, sex, work, travel, experimentation, activities tend to consume us as young women. Desire for children, often understood or latent when young, becomes more prominent when we get along into our 30s. I knew relatively early that I would not have children in my case simply because I could not find a man that did not drive me crazy and would never consider becoming a consensual single parent as that seemed unfair. I am amazed at the lengths to which many women will go for a child and wonder if often it is less a matter of maternal instinct than material desire for a possession. I have a good job but it is obvious to all that what I am is basically a corporate "mother". I make schedules, clean up the messes of others, nurture, scold, help, and try to keep my colleagues on track. Basically an old time secretary or receptionist (which I was briefly when young by the way) who has grown and expanded with the company and become almost indespensable. But I fear for my old age. i can see myself in the care of nieces or nephews I don't get along with or hardly know. Or, worse, alone in a nursing care facility. I am still relatively youthful and vital but I fear the time will come when I become only an object of pity for my essential alone-ness. No one loves an object of pity.
  • I'm 25. I can feel my biological clock ticking louder and louder every day, and it keeps getting stronger and stronger each year to the point it's driving me nuts. The more I try to avoid it, the louder it ticks. I've been feeling it since age 23. I do also agree that there is way too much culture-derived stress placed on women who are unmarried and childless (even at my young age) in the area that I live in. I want a child more than anything in this world, however, I do not think that that should define who am I as a woman. I think the thing that scares me the most is that all throughout my mother's side of the family runs different forms of female Cancer. I sometimes often wonder if this could be a sign of my body telling me to go ahead and have a child now because of something that may happen in the coming years that may result in something like a hysterectomy or etc. My problem is... I've been in a committed relationship with a guy for 2 years. This is the same guy who I've been best friends with since high school for 10 years. (So we were basically best friends for 8 years before we started dating.) He has a 2 & 1/2 year old son from a previous relationship. (He is just a bit younger than me, he'll be 24 in January 2010.) Now he loves his son, but it was obviously a mistake with the person he had him with, and he always tells me that if he could go back and change things I would be the mother of his son. Lovely to hear of course, but he doesn't get it. We had a long conversation the other night and he tells me that he has no desire for anymore children whatsoever. He loves me, but doesn't even want to have a kid with me or any other female for that matter. This hurt me to such a degree that we haven't spoken in nearly a week and I've been an emotional wreck every since crying and whatnot. He doesn't understand what it's like to feel what I do. But it also makes me question our relationship. I feel as if I love him more than he may love me, as I thought that it was only right to at least be willing to compromise and meet me halfway in a relationship. He already has a kid. I mean he's a great father to his son for himself growing up without one due to death. It's to the point that we haven't even had sex in 3-4 months because I guess he's gotten so paranoid about the subject. Call me bitchy maybe, but what exactly does he have to sacrifice besides sperm?! It's my body that would go under stress, I'm carrying the child and delivering it, and etc. I just don't understand his outlook on things. I feel as if I've been robbed of my dream of being a mother because of him. I can recall times when we've talked about baby names and even when he's said to me that I'm the only girl he'd ever even consider having a kid with ever again. But who am I to let some guy play a godlike figure and tell me whether I'll be having any kids with him or not? I don't think so... I guess the saddest part is that in the past I've been through my share of pain and grief from bad relationships and bad choices with men, but I know I'm supposed to be with this man. We've shared everything together and I can't see us not being together. But something has got to give. Currently I'm not budging and neither is he on the subject, and I don't know what to do. The longer I wait it out I'm so scared. Not that there's anything wrong with it for some women, but I'm not about to be one of those women who wait til their late 30s or 40s to have a kid. To each their own. I just want to make sure that I can give my child everything and be very vibrant and energetic and outgoing as I am now, and who knows what will happen the older I get. I may not be able to do those things. It's come to the point where I know that if I lose this man, my only other route is going to be sperm donor and IVF. There's no one else that I'd ever consider personally spending my life with and having children to, so I know for sure that if it didn't work out I would end up being just another single mother. May sound crazy, but I am a woman set in stone with what I want in life. I'm not saying it's my way or the highway, but I'm hoping to pick up this conversation at some point with him when I'm not so hurt (maybe next week as he's home taking care of his son this week) and I just want us to be able to work through this and come up with something that can work for both of us. I can't imagine not having the happiness in life that he brings me. I just want to bring a child into it to spread the love and happiness a little bit more.

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